Apple Offers Instructions on What to Do if macOS Big Sur Causes Installation Errors on 2013 and 2014 MacBook Pro

[reeney]

Following the release of macOS Big Sur last week, a number of 2013 and 2014 MacBook Pro owners found that the update bricked their machines. Affected users saw their Macs get stuck displaying a black screen after attempting to install the new software.

1. If the issue persists, reset NVRAM or PRAM.

I wanted to reset PRAM on my 2012 iMac to prepare for selling it. It was impossible since I do not have a wired keyboard. Instead I started in Recovery Mode, which did give me the option to delete everything and restore the OS. It restored Catalina just fine then.

 

[MacBH928]

What was the beta phase for?​

 

[hackintoshi]

Just got my mid-2014 MBP back from Apple. Unable to be fixed. Got told to either find a vintage store or to buy a new macbook.

Very annoyed considering it was working perfectly fine prior to the recommended general release Big Sur update.

 

[Superhai]

Just got my mid-2014 MBP back from Apple. Unable to be fixed. Got told to either find a vintage store or to buy a new macbook.

Very annoyed considering it was working perfectly fine prior to the recommended general release Big Sur update.

Very boring. Have you tried starting it with holding Shift-Option-Command-R?

 

[perigee]

I own a late-2013 15" Retina Macbook Pro and Big Sur "bricked" it in that at one point it kept booting and couldn't find its boot drive, and going into Internet Recovery showed that Disk Utility couldn't even see the boot drive as an attached device.

I contacted Apple Support through the Store app, and because I originally bought it with a business account, I got business support through Apple Messages. They went through the full diagnostic with me and all the resets and nothing worked. They booked an appointment for me with a local authorized repair shop.

I shut it down, unplugged it and let it sit that way for about 36 hours. After reading all the posts about it, I decided to try a bit more jiggery-pokery, and plugged it back in and turned it on, and it booted up into Big Sur. I've never seen anything like it. Hardware self-repairing? I'm assuming maybe a firmware update went through at the last minute? I have no idea.

It's not entirely fixed. It mostly works, but every couple of days if I don't fully shut down and power up again, it'll give me the spinning beach ball of doom and then go black screen and eventually turn off (or make me turn it off). I suspect I may need to replace its IO logic board. It's really weird that the same component keeps being the failure point. Almost like some slipstreamed firmware update in Big Sur is corrupting the hardware somehow?

My main issue with this problem is that APPLE SAID BIG SUR WAS SAFE WITH MY MODEL. If Apple hadn't said so, I would have happily trucked along with Catalina (my hardware was ROCK SOLID with Catalina) and budgeted for another MBP soon. But in saying that Big Sur was safe with this model, it set an expectation that the upgrade wouldn't completely screw up my Macbook Pro. That's the irresponsibility that I dislike, and it's what I think is at the root of the problem. After encouraging us to upgrade, and screwing up the hardware, Apple's acting like it's our fault for trying an upgrade that they said was safe and pushed notifications to us in Settings to go ahead and do.

I view this as a lapse in judgement for now. But if they just sweep it under the rug, that will seem negligent to me, bordering on fraudulent.

 

[alien3dx]

I own a late-2013 15" Retina Macbook Pro and Big Sur "bricked" it in that at one point it kept booting and couldn't find its boot drive, and going into Internet Recovery showed that Disk Utility couldn't even see the boot drive as an attached device.

I contacted Apple Support through the Store app, and because I originally bought it with a business account, I got business support through Apple Messages. They went through the full diagnostic with me and all the resets and nothing worked. They booked an appointment for me with a local authorized repair shop.

I shut it down, unplugged it and let it sit that way for about 36 hours. After reading all the posts about it, I decided to try a bit more jiggery-pokery, and plugged it back in and turned it on, and it booted up into Big Sur. I've never seen anything like it. Hardware self-repairing? I'm assuming maybe a firmware update went through at the last minute? I have no idea.

It's not entirely fixed. It mostly works, but every couple of days if I don't fully shut down and power up again, it'll give me the spinning beach ball of doom and then go black screen and eventually turn off (or make me turn it off). I suspect I may need to replace its IO logic board. It's really weird that the same component keeps being the failure point. Almost like some slipstreamed firmware update in Big Sur is corrupting the hardware somehow?

My main issue with this problem is that APPLE SAID BIG SUR WAS SAFE WITH MY MODEL. If Apple hadn't said so, I would have happily trucked along with Catalina (my hardware was ROCK SOLID with Catalina) and budgeted for another MBP soon. But in saying that Big Sur was safe with this model, it set an expectation that the upgrade wouldn't completely screw up my Macbook Pro. That's the irresponsibility that I dislike, and it's what I think is at the root of the problem. After encouraging us to upgrade, and screwing up the hardware, Apple's acting like it's our fault for trying an upgrade that they said was safe and pushed notifications to us in Settings to go ahead and do.

I view this as a lapse in judgement for now. But if they just sweep it under the rug, that will seem negligent to me, bordering on fraudulent.

same as me... bricked imac 2017 base line.. if I know I never want upgrade either big surr. as developer I need latest xcode but seem what I see now is like ipad mini . they have 2 device intel and arm. Something around power management maybe ? unsure i'm writing on new ryzen d15 Huawei and for xcode if something wrong will edit in ancient MacBook 2011 Catalina hack

 

[9927036]

Why on earth are 2013/14 owners installing Big Sur anyway?! I use a 2019 and I won't be, Mojave is rock solid.

Because Apple encourages people to install. Upgrade Now button in System Preferences. Most users will do as Apple asks. This is entirely Apple's fault.

 

[9927036]

I suspect 99% of these problems could have been avoided if Apple simply added a clear warning on the screen when firmware upgrades were in process so users didn't accidentally interrupt them by hitting the power button. My approach is to only detach and reattach the charger to insure a boot is in process when faced with a black screen. That will never case an unintended shutdown but will force a boot if one is needed.

Apple's UI feedback during upgrades has always been poor. It's better on iOS devices.

 

[9927036]

I own a late-2013 15" Retina Macbook Pro and Big Sur "bricked" it in that at one point it kept booting and couldn't find its boot drive, and going into Internet Recovery showed that Disk Utility couldn't even see the boot drive as an attached device.

I contacted Apple Support through the Store app, and because I originally bought it with a business account, I got business support through Apple Messages. They went through the full diagnostic with me and all the resets and nothing worked. They booked an appointment for me with a local authorized repair shop.

I shut it down, unplugged it and let it sit that way for about 36 hours. After reading all the posts about it, I decided to try a bit more jiggery-pokery, and plugged it back in and turned it on, and it booted up into Big Sur. I've never seen anything like it. Hardware self-repairing? I'm assuming maybe a firmware update went through at the last minute? I have no idea.

It's not entirely fixed. It mostly works, but every couple of days if I don't fully shut down and power up again, it'll give me the spinning beach ball of doom and then go black screen and eventually turn off (or make me turn it off). I suspect I may need to replace its IO logic board. It's really weird that the same component keeps being the failure point. Almost like some slipstreamed firmware update in Big Sur is corrupting the hardware somehow?

My main issue with this problem is that APPLE SAID BIG SUR WAS SAFE WITH MY MODEL. If Apple hadn't said so, I would have happily trucked along with Catalina (my hardware was ROCK SOLID with Catalina) and budgeted for another MBP soon. But in saying that Big Sur was safe with this model, it set an expectation that the upgrade wouldn't completely screw up my Macbook Pro. That's the irresponsibility that I dislike, and it's what I think is at the root of the problem. After encouraging us to upgrade, and screwing up the hardware, Apple's acting like it's our fault for trying an upgrade that they said was safe and pushed notifications to us in Settings to go ahead and do.

I view this as a lapse in judgement for now. But if they just sweep it under the rug, that will seem negligent to me, bordering on fraudulent.

If they don't do the right thing by customers there will be a class action lawsuit. Amazing irresponsibility during a pandemic when people need their computers working.

 

[9927036]

Just got my mid-2014 MBP back from Apple. Unable to be fixed. Got told to either find a vintage store or to buy a new macbook.

Very annoyed considering it was working perfectly fine prior to the recommended general release Big Sur update.

I would wait awhile. Apple will have to fix the hardware they damaged with their Big Sur upgrade or face lawsuits.

 

[jasper.ned]

Why on earth are 2013/14 owners installing Big Sur anyway?! I use a 2019 and I won't be, Mojave is rock solid.

Because the icons have a new bigger radius which makes you enjoy using the Mac even more. It’s the biggest update ever. 😊

 

[Macbookprodude]

The best solution - dump 2013/2014 and just go with 2015. No issues, no TPM, no T1 chip here.. apple can't monitor me at all. ORVELLE 1984.

 

[w_aldo]

Apple should just rename Big Sur to Big Sour Apple OS. Pro tip: Years ago my tech friend (he's VERY tech savvy) told me to ALWAYS stay at least 3 (or at the very least 2) major software versions behind, regardless if it's operating systems, or simpler applications like Adobe Photoshop. And after 3 years, if the software is still not fixed, wait for the next major version. Still running macOS High Sierra 10.13 on my 2014 MacBook Pro. It's running fast and flawless, thanks to my tech friend's pro advice, which I will always keep following. This has in many ways saved me so much money and time.

He probably meant 1.X versions behind, not X.1 You are 3 years behind which is ridiculous, and more likely to cause problems rather than prevent them.

 

[johnnyzg]

I was always waiting for .2 or .3 release before upgrading, but for Mojave I waited until .5 and for Catalina until .6
Right now plan to install Big Sur on my MBP 13 late 2013 is fall 2021 and I hope these issues will be resolved by then.
It would be great if Apple wouldn't push that upgrade notification in System Preferences because that is probably the main reason why most users upgrade.

 

[filbert42]

My late 2013 13" Retina Macbook Pro is not showing the update, not even via the App Store. I read elsewhere that Apple have blocked these devices - for the time being, at least.

 

[KOTGS]

My late 2013 13" Retina Macbook Pro is not showing the update, not even via the App Store. I read elsewhere that Apple have blocked these devices - for the time being, at least.

I have a mid 2014 13" Macbook Pro and the option for the Big Sur update isn't showing up anymore either. It's annoying how quiet Apple is being about this issue.

 

[filbert42]

I have a mid 2014 13" Macbook Pro and the option for the Big Sur update isn't showing up anymore either. It's annoying how quiet Apple is being about this issue.

The Big Sur option has now shown up on my late 2013 13" Retina Macbook Pro. Not going to jump yet - not until I see if it seems to have resolved the bricking issues.

 

[dthej86]

My 2014 MacBook Pro worked great, and I was always happy that it didn't obsolete in a couple years like PC notebooks. Then this happened. Now it won't stay on wifi/internet without a reboot every hour, and won't keep connection to my home NAS. What a POS "update"!